Congrats! You are ready to buy your first home. Although you haven’t found it yet, in your mind, it’s perfect! May be used or un-used, buying home is always a dream and a homebuyer wants his home to reflect his persona. Buying a used home could add up to big savings and allow you to get a bigger piece of the dream than a brand new one. So it’s extremely important now to invest wisely and to keep few things in mind while buying used property as it might have few structural defects which can’t be ignored. There are a few things to check before finally moving in, especially related to the structure of the building.

Home Inspection: Structural Defects You Must Not Ignore

Let us talk about these in some detail –

1. Check Runaway rainwater

A great philosopher truly said, “If there are 15 things that can go wrong with a house, 10 of them have to do with water”. Downspouts, Gutters, and leader pipes collect rainwater and pass it away from the house. In humid and wet regions, leaders should extend at least 5 feet from the house. Check the entire gutter system seasonally for proper pitch, corrosion, for clogs, broken fasteners, and separation between connections and where gutters meet the fascia board. [Read more…]

Bought a home? But before moving-in, a walk through is very important so that you do not face a problem in the long run. A proper inspection of your residential property will enlighten you with all the small or big problems you may have to face later. While buying a house, check all the problematic aspects fro m the outside as well as inside. Make sure there are no cracks in the walls, no other external damage to the property.

If you are moving into a rented apartment, see that all amenities promised to you are made available.

Check if the water supply to your apartment is on.

Make sure that the electrical supply and meter are functional.

The electrical gadgets like heaters or the gas supply are in proper working condition.

These are some important things that you have to check. You may be buying the property directly from the builder or through a broker or renting it out. You must see that whatever was offered to you at the time of buying/leasing is actually available and functional. Once you take over the property then it becomes very difficult to get things done because you have moved in lock, stock and barrel. Hence getting repair jobs done and fixing the nitty-gritty stuff becomes a problem.